Page 1792 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 18 October 1989
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table would agree, if they were putting the position clearly and honestly, that I was about full disclosure, and I approached all of the parties who were to participate in the debate. But it became pretty clear during my discussion of the issue with the members who were to be involved in the debate that this was to be a numbers issue. It was not to be about commonsense, about the people of Canberra or what they wanted, or about politics. It was to be a subjective decision on an issue and it was to be railroaded through, and that is what happened.
The pleas for full disclosure have now been shown to be a responsible and honourable position for this Assembly to take. I am sure that at the conclusion of this debate the media will applaud the responsible and honourable decision which will be taken by this Assembly in relation to the examination and full disclosure of all of the issues concerning fluoride. There has been some misleading and subjective discussion of the issues surrounding fluoride.
Mr Moore: Well, Labor has not put any up.
MR BERRY: We were prepared to listen to the recommendations of an inquiry, Mr Moore, and I seem to recall in recent days seeing a piece of paper where you would have supported that view at one point in time. Many of the issues that were raised have been raised without regard to all of the facts. We heard a few moments ago much discussion about the toxicity of fluoride and how it was imposed on people in their daily lives and how wrong that was. Some people have all of a sudden found some warmth for civil liberties and now argue that it is a civil liberties issue, but I wonder whether those people consider that one of the most toxic gases that humankind is subjected to, carbon monoxide, is the result of cranking up their respective motor vehicles in the morning and polluting the air.
Of course, that is politics. We allow that to happen in our society and we allow the people of the ACT, and indeed the world, to be subjected to the inhalation of carbon monoxide and the dreadful effects that that has on our bodies.
Mr Moore: We are doing something about the lead in it.
MR BERRY: As we have done with lead, Mr Moore, when we decide that that will no longer occur, then it will be the body politic of the day that will decide that that will no longer occur. That will be the issue in relation to fluoride. It is an issue of public health. In the past it has been accepted, on the basis of expert advice, that it was a satisfactory addition to water supply in the interests of public health. The fluoride dosage which has been applied in the ACT has been recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council, and I think it is fair to say that it is also recommended by the World Health Organisation as an effective measure in reducing the incidence - - -
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